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Chances are, the first words that pop into your mind when you hear the word ‘teenager’ are probably not ‘cautious, rational decision-maker.’
But that doesn’t have to be the case! With some attentive studying, your teen can become an expert critical thinker.
So, why should your teen study critical thinking?
10. Avoid drama
Building critical thinking skills will not only help your teen advance a logical argument, it will help him or her avoid the types of heated arguments that can rupture friendships.
By studying critical thinking and logic, teens can learn to make sound and valid arguments that could convince others to accept their ideas by presenting solid reasons and evidence.. Even better, your teen will learn how to avoid alienating or intimidating others, and how to avoid being alienated or intimidated.
9. Get better grades
Studying critical thinking helps encourage a logical mindset. Your teen will be able to study more effectively because he or she will be able to better sort relevant from irrelevant information. Critical thinking skills can help teach teens to prioritize their time and resources.
8. Stand up for beliefs
As a parent, you’ve spent years instilling strong values in your teen. It’s inevitable that the time will come when your teen is confronted by a situation that challenges those values — and you will want your teen to have the tools to stand up for what they believe in. Critical thinking will help make teens more confident and effective communicators because they will be able to make consistent and relevant points that support their ideas.
7. It’s in the Standards!
If you’re reading this blog, it’s likely that you homeschool. One of the great joys of homeschooling is the freedom to create a custom-tailored curriculum according to your child’s strengths and interests. Adhering to standards such as Common Core may or may not be a priority, but it bears keeping in mind that when your teen is eventually in a college classroom, there will be an expectation that they are proficient in the material covered by high school standards. As of 2018, Common Core Standards include the recognition and identification of logical fallacies.
“CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.3
Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.”
6. Be more empathetic
Learning how to think critically can help your teen understand and appreciate differing worldviews. Being empathetic will not only help your teen be a better team-player, it can help your teen become a kinder human.
5. Communicate clearly
When you study critical thinking and logic, you learn a go-to framework for evaluating and making arguments. Good critical thinkers understand how to analyze and give evidence for a particular premise, as well as to discern the assumptions that may underlie it. Finding consistent and relevant points to support an argument and determining whether assumptions are reasonable is crucial to effective communication.
4. Be more persuasive
We’re all familiar with persuasive tactics such as clever wordplay and appeal to emotions. While these tactics may be effective in certain circumstances, they are not a substitute for cogent arguments. The most powerful arguments are those with compelling evidence, where the conclusions follow logically from the premises. Studying critical thinking will boost your rhetorical prowess by teaching you how to out-reason your opponents.
3. Recognize faulty reasoning
A good critical thinking class will devote a substantial amount of time to teaching students how to recognize and avoid important logical fallacies, or common flaws in reasoning. Understanding the myriad ways reasoning can go wrong will help a student make reasoning go right.
2. Be a better citizen
A key aspect of good citizenship is making informed, rational decisions in the voting booth. With an understanding of critical thinking, voters — particularly inexperienced voters — will be able to better assess dubious campaign rhetoric.
1. Make better decisions
The teen and early adult years are a time when young people are bombarded with choices that could have a dramatic impact on their health, safety, and success. Studying critical thinking will help young people to think more clearly and make better choices that could give them a brighter future.
Do you have more reasons you can think of to study critical thinking? Or would you like to share your favorite resources to include critical thinking in your homeschool? If so, leave them in the comments down below!
